Rachel's Farewell
by Morphus
Summary: All about what happens after Rachel dies in the last book. What if she was given a chance to say goodbye again? Read and review please!
1. Rachel's Farewell: Afterlife

**Author's Note: This fanfic is about what happens after Rachel dies in the last book. What if she was given a chance to say goodbye again? Reviews are very welcome!**

Extract from Animorphs #54: The Beginning by K.A Applegate, page 24-

"_I wanted so much to live. I wanted so much to stay and not to leave. In a moment no answer would matter to me, but just the same, I wanted to know what I guess any dying person wants to know._

"_Answer this, Ellimist: Did I…did I make a difference? My life, and my…my death…was I worth it? Did my life really matter?"_

"_Yes,", he said. "You were brave. You were strong. You were good. You mattered."_

"_Yeah. Okay, then. Okay, then."_

_I wondered if-"_

"Where am I going?"

A yawning expanse of black space enveloped her body.

"So this is where dead people go. Dead people like me.", thought Rachel mournfully. Anger began to boil up inside her.

"This isn't fair! I'd fought. I'd survived so many battles. Why do I have to leave **now**, when all the battles are over? Yes, I love the rush of battle, but I would have loved to enjoy the fruits of my labour too! I would have loved to live life without lies…without fear. Just living each day. Like how it should have been. Spending time with the ones I love without worrying about dying in the next battle. Mom. Dad. Sara. Jordan. The others. Tobias." Rachel silently screamed in her head.

And now she was stuck in this…this godforsaken place for who knows how long. She stared at the void all around her. Darkness. Nothingness. Was she going to be here for eternity? Boy, was she going to be bored!

"Ahh…Rachel. My favourite Animorph. The one who kills without a conscience. The one who loves the _thrill_ of killing."

"If that's what God sounds like," thought Rachel, "I have to say I'm a little disappointed.". Wait a minute! She knew that irritating voice! It was the bloody Drode, not God!

"I'm here to bring you to paradise." he chuckled maliciously in answer to my unasked question.

"Crayak wants me? Whatever for! As his personal toy? Or a souvenir from one of his little triumphs over the Ellimist?"

"Your meddling friend and my Master have been having a…discussion. About your afterlife. My Master would like to have you, while your interfering pal wants to send you to meet your maker. I must say he has gone soft in his old age, the Ellimist. They have decided to let you go back to Earth until they come to a decision. Doesn't make a difference, if you ask me. My Master will **make sure** he has you." the Drode sneered.

Go back to Earth? Rachel's mind reeled with the possibilities. She could go visit her family! The others, too. Tell Jake that it's not his fault. Kiss Tobias goodbye. But wait. There **had** to be a catch.

"Right you are, Rachel my girl! Catch: you can't talk to anyone. No one will be able to sense your presence. That is my Master Crayak's demand in return for his generous offer."

"Generous offer my-!" seethed Rachel.

The void around her suddenly started spinning. Images flashing in her mind showed her what had happened after her death. The Yeerks' surrender. The Andalites' arrival. Her funeral…

Her world stopped spinning. In an instant, she was transported to her home.


	2. Rachel's Farewell: Home

The familiar sight that greeted Rachel was almost enough to make her burst into tears.

She was in her room. She ran a hand over her table, her unfinished homework…everything was just as she had left it. She opened her wardrobe. All her favourite clothes were still there. Her gaze fell on the full-length mirror that she had spent hours in all standing in front of, checking out how she looked in some outfit or other.

The reflection which looked back at her was one with long blond hair, a tear-stained face leading down to a tall body wearing a black leotard. She thought she looked sinfully normal. Not at all like a dead girl coming home to visit.

She turned from the mirror and looked out of the window. The window through which Tobias had flown in so many times for their late-night chats. A strong pang of longing hit her heart, taking her by surprise. She hadn't realized how much she missed her life until now.

It was twilight. The street below still looked as busy as before. The only thing that was different was a large picture of her face hanging down from some building in the near distance. On it, huge words were printed: IN LOVING MEMORY OF RACHEL BERENSON, EARTH'S GREATEST HEROINE.

"They just had to use a picture in which my hair looks a mess." frowned Rachel.

Slowly, she walked out of her room and headed for the living room.

Her mom, Sara and Jordan were all sitting on the couch, huddling over an old photograph album.

All three of them were tearing silently. Rachel's heart felt wrenched.

Just as she was about to get closer to them, the doorbell rang.

"Go, Sara." Naomi called.

It's Dad! Rachel almost shouted out, she was so glad to see him again.

Dan Berenson looked haggard. Days of insomnia weighed his eyebags down. "Hey, Naomi. Sara, Jordan. I thought I'd come visit and see how you guys are doing." he smiled weakly.

"Come on in. We were just looking at some old photos of…of Rachel." Naomi's voice was tinged with immense grief. She still found it hard to say her name.

Dan joined them on the couch.

Overcome by emotion, Rachel edged over to the couch and sat down with her family.

"Oh, Mom. Dad. Sara. Jordan. I miss you guys so, so much…" she whispered under her breath. Of course, they could not hear her. She was a ghost who had a reflection, who could feel and think and remember, but whom nobody could see or hear or touch.

And then, she laughed and cried with them as they flipped through the photo album, and took turns reminiscing about her, remembering each story that had made up her life.


	3. Rachel's Farewell: Jake

**Author's Note: This chapter is a bit long. Sorry. The pace'll pick up soon, I promise.**

By the time they reached the last page of the photo album, it was already dark outside. And Rachel knew she had to leave her home and move on to her next destination. Reluctantly, she choked back tears and whispered, "Bye, Mom and Dad. Bye, Sara. Bye, Jordan. Don't miss me so much…life's gonna get better for you guys."

She went back to her room. And then, taking one last look around, she called out "Alright, Drode. Take me to Jake's."

"Hey. Show me a little respect, here. I'm more than just your average chauffeur." snapped the Drode.

Rachel rolled her eyes. "Take me to Jake's, **please**."

At the word "please", her room began to spin.

And then, she found herself at Jake's door. She was just about to show herself in when the man himself walked out of the door. Even in the moonlight, she could see that her cousin looked like he had aged 20 years old since the final battle. The weak rays of light outlined the corners of his mouth. They were firmly tugged down, as if he was determined never to smile again. His shoulders were hunched over his lanky frame, and he trudged ahead like a person without hope.

"Oh, come on, Jake. It's not that bad!", pleaded Rachel, "being depressed really isn't going to bring me or Tom back to life. It's not your fault. It was a **war**. During a war, there has to be sacrifices."

He plodded on wearily, giving no sign that he had heard anything. Rachel wondered where he could be going at this hour. Well, there was only one way to find out.

She followed as he got into his car, and sat beside him in silence as he drove. He stopped the car at a place which Rachel found mildly familiar.

It was a cemetery.

Jake got out of the car and walked purposefully towards a single monument in the middle of the cemetery. It was bathed in moonlight.

As they got closer, Rachel could see the words etched onto the stone monument. It had been built in her honour. There was a single rose lying on top of it, and countless bouquets of flowers on the floor around it.

Jake sat down heavily in the grass. He stared into space for a long moment, his face expressionless, and then buried his face in his hands. His shoulders shook with silent sobs. He was weeping like a little boy. A little boy who had been forced to fill the big shoes of a war general.

An owl perched on a nearby tree let out a soft hoot, as if startled by the change in the late visitor's behaviour. Rachel sat down beside Jake, and automatically put her arm round him, though she knew he could not feel her touch. She just sat there, stroking him gently, not knowing what to say to lift her cousin from the depths of depression. "It would not help even if I knew what to say." Rachel reminded herself bitterly.

But her presence seemed to help. After some time, his sobs quelled and he lifted his face from his arms. His tear stains glistened in the moonlight. Wiping his face on his sleeve, he slowly got up.

At the same time, the owl swooped down from the tree and landed in front of Jake. Then, it began to morph into a short, dark-haired adolescent. Named Marco. "Feel better?" he said seriously.

Jake nodded. "Why are you here? I didn't notice you."

"Of course not. You were too busy pining for Xena here." teased Marco, all seriousness in his tone lost.

Jake smiled, but not before Marco and Rachel caught the hurt look that had momentarily flashed across his face. "Still as insensitive as ever, I see." Rachel commented, largely to herself.

"I've been following you whenever I have free time. Which is not very often, since I've got all those talk shows and stuff to star in, you know? But often enough to know that you come here every night. And it's not really helping, is it? Seeing her just brings all the guilt back."

"I need time to…come to terms with it, Marco." Jake said tiredly. His best friend's words had hit home.

"Suit yourself. But if you ever decide to take a break from depression, drop by my new villa, ok? I'll make sure you have a good time." winked Marco. He turned away and began to morph to owl again for the flight home. But before the feathers shrouded his face, Rachel saw the concern written all over it. Marco knew that Jake would not be visiting him anytime soon.

"Bye, Marco. Thanks for dropping by. And since you can't hear me, I'd just like to say that I've always admired your intelligence. We never could get along, but I appreciate your contributions to our victory. Thanks…" called Rachel as Marco took off into the night sky.

She turned to Jake's retreating back. "Goodbye, cousin. Don't take it so hard. Life goes on, alright?"

Then, she lifted her face to the sky, and murmured, "Now for Cass."

She shut her eyes as the now-familiar spinning sensation overcame her.


	4. Rachel's Farewell: Cassie

When Rachel opened her eyes again, she found herself sitting at the edge of Cassie's bed. Her best friend was in her PJ's, sleeping in an awkward position. The sound of her soft breathing filled the room.

She looked around the room where she had spent countless weekends sleeping over, talking late into the night about everything under the sun. She stared at the spot where she used to sleep on each of those weekends. It brought back memories. So many wonderful memories…

She turned her attention to the only source of light in the room-the lamp sitting on the bedside table. It illuminated the top of Cassie's head, and an object lying near it.

It was a diary. It lay open at a page full of words in Cassie's neat, small handwriting. Rachel hesitated, but only for a brief moment. "Oh what the heck, I'm already dead anyway. Who cares about morals?" she muttered.

She began to read.

"27/5/01

Dear Diary,

I still miss Rachel a lot. The pain and hollow feeling inside my heart has not let up. I can't believe she will never drag me to some sale again, or comment about my bad fashion sense. God, I miss her so, so much…Wherever you are, Rachel, we'll always be best friends. I will never forget you. Ever.

I feel that Jake has been avoiding me since the final battle. He looked away whenever he saw me, and has not even visited me once since Rachel's funeral. I hear from Marco that he is quite depressed.

He must think I blame him for her death. I don't. Nobody does. Not even Tobias. Sigh…if only he would understand that. But I know he has other issues to sort out. The guilt…the decisions he made…everything. This war has taken such a heavy toll on him.

I wish I could be there to comfort him, but it seems he is pushing everyone away and seething in his own fiery pit of grief and guilt. I wish I could see him again, and talk to him. Make him understand.

But sitting here wishing is not going to help, is it? I should go visit him tomorrow. Yeah. But I also have my own issues to sort out. All those people I've killed. I'm so, so tired of thinking….I"

Poor Cassie. She had fallen asleep before finishing the entry. Rachel sat down beside her best friend, and let out a long sigh.

"Please go talk to Jake tomorrow, okay? You know he needs you. And yeah. We'll always be best friends. No matter what." Her voice cracked. She could feel the tears threatening to fall. She blinked them away.

"I'd hate to interrupt this touching display of emotions, but time's running out. Don't say I didn't warn you!" the Drode's voice boomed in her head.

Rachel jumped. "God, you're worse than a Yeerk!" she rolled her eyes, annoyed at herself for being startled. She tried to ignore the maniacal laughter that followed.

She gave her best friend one last ghost-hug, and whispered "I love you."

She eased the pen out of Cassie's clenched fist, slotted it into the diary, placed the diary on the bedside table, and switched off the lamp. Then, she was off.

Destination: Tobias's meadow.

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A minute after Rachel's departure, Cassie woke with a start. She'd just had a really nice dream. She felt for her diary, remembering that she had fallen asleep while writing in it. She wanted to record her dream before it disappeared from her mind.

Her fingers found nothing. She got up, switched on the lamp, and found it on the bedside table. Her pen was slotted in between the pages of her diary. She didn't remember doing that before she drifted off to sleep. Shrugging, she opened her diary to the page where she had left off. Picking up her pen, she was just about to begin writing when she realized that she needed the toilet. Urgently.

She stood up. The first rays of dawn shone in from her window and illuminated the room. As she walked, something shiny gave off a soft sparkle that caught the corner of her eye. She stopped, looking for its source.

There, lying on the spot where Rachel used to sleep whenever she stayed over, was a single strand of long blond hair.

Shocked, she lowered herself slowly to the ground and picked it up. Could it be-? Her thoughts went back to her dream. She placed the hair carefully in her pocket and continued walking, her mind preoccupied with the possibility.

When she returned to her diary and began to write, her attention drifted to a spot on the page where the ink had been smudged. It was a roundish wet spot. She touched it. The spot was still damp. It looked like it had been caused by a freshly shed tear…

"Oh my god…" she whispered, tears springing to her eyes as she was overcome by emotion.


	5. Rachel's Farewell: Tobias

**Author's Note: Thank you Ember Nickel, estrid2006, Flame Vixen and SouthrnBelle for your reviews. They are very much appreciated. :)**

**Text in italics represent thought-speak. Hope you will enjoy this chapter. **

Green grass and brown trees stretched for as far as Rachel's eyes could see. A sliver of the sun's fiery body lay across the horizon. Sunrise was fast approaching.

Rachel zoomed in to what she was looking for. Her eyes searched and found their target.

The love of her life (and afterlife) was perched on a nearby tree, catching his last few moments of sleep.

Rachel's heart gave a painful wrench. He looked thinner. Bonier. She sat down in front of the tree, and watched him sleep. He looked so peaceful.

She felt as if she could sit there forever, just watching over him. At that moment in time, it was her sole desire.

A few blissful minutes later, he stirred. His eyes flicked open. For a moment, he looked like a normal hawk who had just awoken and was ready for another day of hunting. And then, it was almost as if something had clicked in his mind. His beak dipped and his feathers drooped. If there ever was a bird who looked like it was tired of living, he would be it.

Pain shot through Rachel's heart. And suddenly, she knew exactly what she wanted to do in her last few moments with Tobias.

She wondered if being dead affects your ability to morph.

It didn't.

Focusing on the bald eagle DNA in her body, she began to change.

Just as the final adjustments were being made to her body, Tobias took to the air.

Rachel quickly completed her morph and took off after him. _Ahh…_Rachel sighed with pleasure as the thermals lifted the two raptors up, up, up into the sky. This was what she loved best about being in her bald eagle morph: flying with Tobias, and letting the thermals take them to the skies.

The sun was beginning its ascent by now. Slowly, it spread its rays throughout the earth, turning everything it touched into gold.

As she admired the magnificent view of the world beneath and felt the brush of Tobias's wings against hers, she felt as if she were already in paradise.

They flew for a long time. Rachel enjoyed every minute of it. They soared over a field filled with red roses. It was a breathtakingly beautiful scene. Suddenly, Tobias killed his speed and began to dive towards the field. Before Rachel could access the part of the eagle's mind that knew how to dive, he had swooped up into the air again-but with a deep red rose in his beak.

_Got yourself a new girlfriend, have you! That's fast!_ she fumed, jumping to the first conclusion that passed through her head.

But jealous and hurt though she was, she knew that Tobias had to move on sooner or later. And underneath her jealousy, a more powerful force lurked. Curiosity. Was his new girl hawk or human? She didn't know many of either variety that could compare with herself.

Chuckling inwardly at her narcissism, she continued to follow him. They flew for a short distance, and then Tobias began to dive towards a group of trees below. Puzzled, she prepared to do likewise. But the questions in her head interrupted with her focus, and she forgot to let the eagle take over the dive. By the time she got close to the trees, Tobias had disappeared underneath the foliage.

_Definitely human._ she thought. She circled in the air a few times, trying to catch a glimpse of Tobias. But all she could see was leaves, leaves and more leaves.

Then, she realized that there were fewer trees ahead. She might be able to see him from there.

Sure enough, she saw a head of dirty-blonde hair bobbing underneath the trees. She followed it until it came to a halt. Straining to get a closer look, she killed her speed and began to fall, aiming for the tree branch next to Tobias's head.

But she was out of practice, and snagged some of her wing feathers on another branch. _Ow!_ she cried in pain, and watched as her feathers floated onto the ground next to Tobias.

Now, she had a better view of him. And as soon as she saw what he was doing, she knew she had been wrong.

Her "cheating" boyfriend was removing the wilting rose from the top of her monument, and replacing it with the new rose. Sunlight bounced off the tears that were already forming at the corners of his eyes, making them shine.

_Oh, Tobias…_she sighed. She landed on the ground and began to demorph.

As she was demorphing, Tobias's gaze fell on the feathers on the ground next to him. He picked one of them up.

"Bald eagle." he said softly, his voice rusty from lack of use. And then, a millisecond later, his eyes lit up, and he cried "Rachel!", He looked around frantically, searching the tiny glimpses of sky above him, and the space all around him. And then, realizing that his thought-speak would have a wider range, he shouted _RACHEL!_

"I'm here…" Rachel shouted, crying, "I'm here."

"Rachel, come back!" he shouted, almost angrily.

"Rachel…"

Realisation dawned in his eyes. It could have been any other bald eagle. Not Rachel. Angry tears of frustration rolled down his face. He had had a ray of hope for a minute there, and then it had been snatched away. His heart now felt twice as empty. Twice as sorrowful. Twice as lonely.

He did not feel a thing as Rachel hugged him as tightly as she could. Her face, too, was wet with tears of frustration. She wanted so much to talk to him, to tell him she was still here. But how? He couldn't hear her. Couldn't feel her. "Think, Rachel, think!" she forced herself to focus. There had to be a way around Crayak's rules.

Finally, an idea materialized in her head. "I'll be right back, Tobias." She began to morph to eagle again.

As she morphed, she could hear the faint clopping of hooves in the distance. _Hooves?_ she thought, puzzled. And then, as the clopping got louder, it was joined by the sound of heavy footfalls…

Cassie racked her brains. Where would Rachel go next? To see Tobias, of course. She would have gone home, then to Jake's, then to her. And then to Tobias. Cassie was sure of that. And where would Tobias be? He would be in his meadow. "No", she corrected herself. He would be at Rachel's grave. He left his meadow first thing every morning and spent the rest of his day in front of Rachel's grave. He would only leave it late at night, to sleep in his meadow.

Yes. That was where she should go. But first, she needed to contact the others.

"This is crazy…" she thought to herself. She was only working on a hunch. What if she was wrong? No harm trying, though. She rushed to her phone, and dialed Jake's number.

**Author's Note: Sorry to leave you hanging! I'll be away for a few days, so the next chapter will take a while to post up. In the meantime, please drop me a review. :D Thanks.**


	6. Rachel's Farewell: Communication

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait on this one. I uploaded 2 chapters at a time to make up for it. :)**

As Rachel flew as quickly as her tired wings could flap, her mind was assessing the feasibility of her plan. She processed the information that she had gathered thus far.

She had since discovered that she was like a ripple in the plane of existence. Something that others could not see, or hear, or touch, but whose presence was acknowledged by the laws of physics, or whatever it was that made the world go round. The fact that Tobias had been able to see her feathers proved that point.

Crayak had demanded that she not **talk** to anyone.

But any other form of communication might not be banned.

Yes. Her plan could work. No, it **had **towork. She was not going to come back from the dead, only to be pulled back to the depths of hell (or wherever she was going) without saying what she wanted to say to the one bird-boy who loved her more than anything in the world.

Impatiently, she flapped her wings harder, trying to gain speed. She had to hurry. The Drode had said she was running out of time. She wondered briefly about why the Drode was letting her execute her plan without interfering. "Maybe he's busy doing Crayak's other dirty work. Oh well. All the better for me." she thought.

Finally, she reached her destination. She flew into her room through the open window. With her talons, she grabbed the sheaf of papers that was her unfinished homework as well as the ballpoint pen lying on top of it. And then off she went, racing against time.

When she arrived back at her grave again, Tobias was staring into space, his mind lost in a walk down memory lane. A walk that he took countless times every day since Rachel's death.

He only snapped out of his reverie upon hearing the flutter of numerous pieces of paper floating down, and landing right in front of him. He looked up, and his eyes narrowed instinctively. In the strong sunlight, each piece was dazzlingly white and almost painful to look at.

He stood up, and examined each piece of paper. It was…homework. He glanced at the handwriting. **Rachel's** homework. A flicker of hope began burning inside him for the second time that day.

Slowly, he began flipping over each page to see if there was anything written on them.

To his disappointment, there wasn't.

Panting, Cassie slowed her run into a walk as she approached Rachel's grave. Jake and Marco were just behind her, and Ax had raced ahead of her in a blur of hooves.

At that moment, a whole bunch of papers fell from the sky, and landed in front of Rachel's monument. They watched as Tobias got up and stared at the papers.

Sensing that this might be a private moment between Rachel and Tobias, she called for Ax to stop, and held out her hand to prevent the others from moving forward.

Just as Tobias was looking up from the last piece of paper, two fully-formed hands shot out from the feathery body of a demorphing Rachel.

"Yes!" she cried, and reached for the ballpoint pen that was lying on top of her incomplete essay on the Great Depression.

Walking over to the piece of paper Tobias was holding, she uncapped the pen, and began to write.


	7. Rachel's Farewell: Reprieve

**Author's Note: Alright, this is the last chapter. Dedicated to my best friend, whose support and encouragement first convinced me to post chapter 1 here. :) **

**And thank you once again, all of you who took the time to reach the end of this little fanfic. Especially those of you who wrote reviews. They are invaluable to me.**

**Enjoy, and I hope to see you in my next fanfic!**

"Tobias."

His mouth fell open as black ink magically appeared on the piece of paper in his hand. Black ink that spelt his name. Black ink that spelt his name in Rachel's handwriting.

Fascinated, he read on as more words appeared.

"Crayak and the Ellimist are discussing where I should go for my afterlife. Crayak wants me to be his personal toy. Ellimist wants me to 'meet my maker'. Whatever that means.

So I was allowed to come back here for a while. Till they decide. But I can't talk to anyone, and no one can feel my presence. I've been to see my family, Jake, Marco, and Cassie. None of them knew I was there.

Oh well. Enough about why I'm here. Tobias, I"

There was a deafening roar of thunder. And then, huge drops of rain began falling from the sky.

Rachel cursed under her breath. She wondered if she could get wet. Luckily, she was using a ballpoint pen, so the ink wouldn't smudge. But she realized, to her dismay, that the paper would disintegrate under the dampness.

Tobias swore, and quickly stuffed the piece of paper into his morphing suit to prevent the rain from getting to his last memento of Rachel. He scanned the area around him once again. Rachel had to be around him, somewhere. Probably right next to him. He would give **both** his wings to know where!

His eyes found nothing. In a fit of frustration, he raised his head to the sky and shouted "ELLIMIST! CRAYAK! Stop playing games with us! I want to see her! I want to see her **NOW**!"

As her lover was screaming his head off, Rachel felt something. The raindrops were pelting her body, and each droplet created a tingling sensation as it made contact with her skin. She looked down at her body, but saw no difference. What was happening to her?

Something was wrong with the scene that greeted Tobias when he looked down from the sky, taking a break from shouting. The rain was pouring down in buckets, but the raindrops seemed to be bouncing off something just in front of him. Something…human- shaped.

The rain got heavier. Soon, Rachel was drenched from head to toe. She looked hopelessly at Tobias. So much for her plan to communicate with him. She sighed as hope abandoned her. All that was left to do now was to wait for the Ellimist or Crayak to come and collect her.

A flash of gold appeared in front of Tobias. He blinked. Another flash.

And then, like a portrait that someone was painting with an invisible brush, Rachel's blonde head appeared. The face that starred in Tobias's dreams so often came into view. Slowly, the falling rain revealed the rest of her body.

Tobias felt like a blind man who could see again.

He stretched out his arms, and pulled her into a warm embrace. She was freezing. But it didn't matter. Nothing mattered at that moment, as they were encased in their own bubble of love, whispering each other's name over and over again. His lips were soon on hers, a lingering kiss that would have to last for all eternity. Until they met again.

When their lips finally parted, Rachel spotted the other Animorphs over Tobias's shoulder. She also noticed the Ellimist watching her from a distance, behind her friends.

The Ellimist nodded at her.

Tobias reluctantly relieved his death grip on Rachel's waist, and turned around, gripping her hand tightly instead.

And then, Cassie and Jake were on her. They did a group bear-hug. When they parted, Marco stepped up and gave her a brief squeeze, while Ax awkwardly wrapped his Andalite arms around her in his alien version of a hug.

Everyone's faces were wet with a mixture of rain and tears. They looked at her expectantly, curiosity peeking out from their emotional expressions.

"Tobias will explain later. I'm running out of time." began Rachel.

"Jake." She turned to look at her cousin. He turned his eyes away briefly, unable to meet her gaze. "Jake, look at me." With an effort, he managed to lift his eyes and look into hers.

"It's not your fault that I got killed, alright? You had to make the call, and I would have done it anyway even if you hadn't. So stop being depressed already, or believe me, I will send a hundred grizzly bears from hell to show you what it's really like down there." Jake grinned despite himself. It felt good. He hadn't smiled a smile of pure happiness in the longest time. He nodded, understanding, feeling better already as some of the guilt subsided.

"Oh, and stop blowing off Cassie, will you? She doesn't blame you for my death. No one does! Avoiding her won't change the fact that I'm gone. There's no more war now, so what's stopping you two from living happily ever after? Not little ol' me! But you'd better take care of her, or it's Grizzly Town for you!" Rachel grinned as she watched her cousin and best friend blush.

"Cassie, I love you, and we will be best friends forever. My death doesn't change anything. I'll still think of you, wherever I am, and you'll still think of me. You can still come talk to me whenever you like, and I'll try to make a guest appearance in your dreams from time to time and nag about your clothes." Rachel gave a watery smile. She really didn't know where she was going, and she highly doubted that she would be able to control her actions or her thoughts in her afterlife, but hell, was she going to try.

"Marco. I hate to admit it, but you have got us out of countless shitty situations, and I really appreciate that. Thanks for everything." she said warmly, sarcasm missing in her tone for the first time since she had got to know Marco.

"Hey, no problem, Xena." Marco smiled sheepishly.

"Ax, try to find some other obsession besides cinnamon buns. Earth contains many other delicacies, trust me. And thanks for looking out for all of us, too. We couldn't have done it without you. All the best for your new position as a war-prince."

_Thank you, Rachel. I would also like you to know that I have nothing but the utmost respect for your courage. I will think of you often._

"And Tobias." She turned to face him. The look on her face was all he needed to understand what she wanted to tell him: Don't kill yourself to get to me. We will meet sooner or later. Have patience.

The passionate kiss she gave him next took away all his unhappiness, guilt, and worries, and told him what he already knew: she loved him. Simply and purely. Now and forever. In other words, the same way he did.

Then, the Ellimist took Rachel by her arm and together, they ascended up, up, into the air. A single tear rolled down her cheek. A tear of sadness, for all she had to leave behind. A tear of regret, for all the things she had left unsaid and undone. A tear of acceptance.

"Give my love to Mom and Dad. Sara and Jordan, too. Tell them I love them, and not to grieve for me. Cos I'll always be watching over them. Always." Her final words would always ring in the ears of her friends and lover.

Her hair whipped out behind her as she levitated some more. The rain was coming to a stop, and the sun peeked out from behind the clouds. Its rays reached out and caressed her features. She looked beautiful. Beautiful Rachel.

With a final wave, she disappeared into the clouds. And they knew she would be watching over them from behind those clouds forever.

"Bye, Rachel." They whispered, Ax in thought-speak. A rainbow appeared, glittering in all its multi-coloured glory, stretching from one end of the sky to the other. Heaven's tribute to Rachel, an extraordinary girl who would live forever in the hearts of her loved ones.

-The End-


End file.
